Cheers John!
Things have been plodding forward. That Life thing has rather got in the way a bit, but progress has been made on finalising underframe details (cast footboard brackets) and the end details. Today's post is about the latter.
Right at the start of this thread, I think I mentioned the end detailing as moulded by Slater's was a bit two-dimensional. It’s a sort of Slater's trademark, but it does rather let the side (or end) down when you consider the lovely cast end steps that surround them. I hope you can make out my scribble to show the basic dimension for remaking various holes after carving off the passenger communication gear and the lighting connectors. There is a minor dim I’ve missed, but I’ll cover it when I come to it later. I drill right through the end for the CPL parts as they have long pegs, but just drill little dimples for the CRT parts.
Here are the replacement parts. CPL's exquisite and delicate cast GWR passcomm bits. It’s set 1c Brake Telltales, which I have found is the closest match to the equipment fitted to BR Mk1 coaches, and suits these Southern designs quite well with some careful adjustment. To be correct, the little butterflies at the ends are the wrong way round for Mk1s, but nobody will notice. The lighting connectors are rather lumpy but quite adequate brass jobs from CRT Kits. They’re a gazillion times better than the weedy flat things originally moulded by the Big S.
Having carefully excised the CPL bits from their sprue, and cleaned out the holes with a 0.55mm bit - a half mill would do, but I find the extra 0.05mm helps a bit with fitting - the first job is to modify the valve box and down pipe.
The down pipe is very thin and easily broken, but with care and taking things
very slowly, it is quite possible to adjust it to take on the correct bends. You can see how it runs down close to the strip outboard of the gangway. It also is too long, but that can be easily dealt with by application of cutters.
With the box and down pipe glued in place, I’ve positioned the other parts so you can see how they fit on an end they were never designed for. The saving grace for us is the Pullman gangway these coaches were fitted with. The top rod carrying the turning motion to the opposite side runs through the top of the gangway, and is lost to view. This is the same on Mk1s. The short butterfly rod on the left needs to be shortened further, as does the one on the right. Let’s step through methodically.
Here you can see the left butterfly rod has been shortened, and the casting glued in place. The mechanism to pass the turning movement has also been trimmed and carefully adjusted to fit. The top rod has been trimmed back to the angled strip, for reasons explained earlier. The dimension I missed in my sketch is the location for the upper rod bracket from the angled strip: it’s 3mm, both sides.
The right butterfly rod is tried for size. You can see the lovely cast bracket has to go, which is a shame but it’s all in a good cause. Once happy with the length, the rod is glued in place. Note the rod has to stand away from the coach end by almost a millimetre along its length. This is so it slots into the down rod that goes on next.
Now the right side mechanism is trimmed and fitted. There. That didn’t take long, did it!
And here we are with the lighting connectors and the cast steps and bits fitted. For the period these models are intended to represent, the toilet fillers formed pipes down to track level, à la Mk1s. When these modifications were made, the long step that sat across top of the gangway was removed. This is why I haven’t fitted the etched brackets that Slater's do provide. My cursory survey of photos shows that most of the other steps remained, so I’ve fitted them. I believe some were removed during overhauls, but I couldn’t find an example to follow. Besides, I like the steps. It’s all part of the overall fussiness on coach ends, and one of the things I like most about building rolling stock.
That fussiness, or busyness as Dickens might have said, also extends to the underframe. I like underframes. I like all the bits and bobs that go to making up an underframe. I found another detail I hadn’t spotted before, and I’m going to make them up and talk about them in the next post.